Eight Values of Expression

 

There are two of the eight values of freedom that resonate with me and those two are promote dissent and individual self-fulfillment.  The first one is promote dissent.  Promote dissent is the idea that the minority should not be snuffed out by the masses.  This ties into the ending of my favorite game, Persona 5.  Persona 5 is a game where a bunch of teenagers and young adults try to take on some of the corruption of society.  The ending of the game revolves around the idea of changing the heart of the masses.  For me, this game was incredibly eye-opening because I love the idea of psychology and this game delves into the idea of having a psychology of the masses.  This place, mementos, is a core part of the game, even being one of the late game areas you have to explore and reach the depths of to finish the game.  The place itself is a subway station where people take it to work every day.  The trains themselves take the people to the end of the lines, where what awaits them is the jailhouse of the masses.  This idea of trapping yourself and letting others take the wheel is the opposite of promoting dissent.  The only voice that is heard is that of the one who runs both the jail and mementos, which drowns out any other voice, including yours.  Even after attempting to defeat the boss of mementos, he literally erases you from existence.  The idea of promoting dissent isn’t just restricted to the final boss, but to all the bosses.  If you look and the surface, the heroes change their hearts because the people are evil, however they always want to help both those in need and those close to them.  This gives rise to more content and by extension promotes dissent.

Persona 5 cover art

The other one I would like to talk about is the idea of individual self-fulfillment.  I love music.  Growing up, I was in choir and played numerous instruments.  Nowadays, I want to create music for others to enjoy.  The idea of individual self-fulfillment is the idea of creating your own identity.  Most of this is done through art and other forms of expression.  Currently I have some musical themes of my own I am going to use, and if those were snuffed out it would be heart wrenching to say the least.  This core part of my life is something I rely on to keep myself grounded.  I usually walk to relieve some of my stress, kind of like how some people have a need to pace around.  With music, I can get away from that stress.  Another thing that I use as a sense of identity is my fedora.  When I walk around my campus at college, many people notice me.  It has gotten to the point where some people refer to me as a celebrity, which I find very funny.  However, when many people notice me, they notice my hat in particular, which I find to be a core part of my everyday life.  What makes it so special is that unlike the baseball hats people wear, my hat is a fedora which is incredibly rare.

Two people composing